Fear Landscape
by silverbutterfly13
Summary: Before Tris, there were many other people that went through the process of becoming part of the Dauntless faction. All fictional characters. Mild Romance/Action.


A.N/ This is my first story, so I'm getting into the swing of things. Please comment, both positive and negative feedback is greatly appreciated. I'm also looking for a beta reader, so if someone would be willing to I'd be really grateful. Enjoy!~

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Inside the dormitory, the group of initiates dressed quickly for their next trial. They were anxious to see what test would be next. So far they had undergone the physical and emotional training and trials, and the last initiative was to undergo a mental test, which would be the deciding factor on whether they would be accepted into the Dauntless faction. At the moment, they were waiting to begin the Fear Landscaping.

As a group, they looked like a bunch of regular initiates, but one young man stood out from the others. While the others had brown or black hair and mostly thick builds, he had dirty blond hair and was tall and lanky. His most prominent feature were his piercing blue, intelligent looking eyes. He looked deep in thought, and was staring at the wall as if it held the secret to the universe, which in some way he supposed it could. He was pondering what would happen in his Fear Landscape. Although there were many things that he didn't particularly enjoy, and some things that he disliked in the world, he wasn't sure of anything specific that he feared. As a result, there was no way for him to have full mental preparation, which was unfortunate.

As he stood pondering this, he was oblivious to the girl who sat across the room, watching him. She sighed and looked down at her hands, which were fiddling with the hem of her black shirt. She too was nervous, but for different reasons. Sure the fear landscape would be scary, that's why it held the name. She bit her lower lip and raised her eyes to the boy again. _He _was her fear. She wasn't scared of him, she knew he would never do anything mean to her. That wasn't the kind of person he was. He possessed a power though; a power he didn't even know he possessed. And that was the ability to tear her down with a single word. That was the problem with love: it was the most dangerous thing to have.

All heads turned to look as a young woman walked through the door. She glanced up at the initiates. "Cecilia Albertine?" she said in a loud voice, scanning the room for a reaction. A tall girl stood up, a proud, fierce look in her eye. The orderly raised her eyebrow and nodded. "Follow me." she stated firmly. The two walked out, and the girl shivered. _How can she be so brave? _she wondered in awe. Her gaze strayed back to the boy, and she froze when she saw his gaze locked on her. Electricity seemed to fill the air momentarily. She jerked her gaze down and flushed, embarrassed suddenly for an unexplainable reason. She squeezed her eyes closed and hoped that when she opened them he wouldn't be looking at her. She forced her eyes open and glanced up. She inhaled suddenly, astounded to see that he was now walking towards her. Her eyes widened as he took a seat next to her on the couch. He smiled slightly before asking, "Are you nervous?"

She hesitated before answering truthfully, "More than ever. You?"

He clenched his jaw slightly, his lips tightening into a thin line. "Yes."  
They looked up as the same woman came back with the girl, who looked shaken, with sweat beading on her forehead. "James Mathewson?" she said with a formal air. He stood up and gave the girl a lopsided smile.  
"Wish me luck" he only partly joked.

* * *

Darkness. Just a second ago, he was sitting in a simulation chair, waiting for the simulations to begin. The darkness suggested that the simulation had started. He stood up from the chair, tensing slightly. A cold breeze tingled his skin as he stood in the black room. The breeze vanished suddenly, and moments later a light flashed on. A women, around the age of 30, was holding a pistol pointed straight at James' chest.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot you, I swear!" He stood there paralyzed, unable to move if it was his only choice.

"Stop it! I know what you're trying to do!" The woman stepped towards him, and he flinched, closing his eyes, expecting to hear a gunshot. After a few seconds of silence, he opened his eyes to see that the woman was still standing there, waiting for him to move. He opened his mouth, and the moment he did, the woman collapsed in convulsions. He rushed to her side to help, but she dissolved as soon as he reached her body. He stood up, shaken, and turned around to see what would happen next. As he stood waiting, the lights went out, and he heard a growl to his left seconds later. He spun to see a huge black wolf edging towards him, teeth bared and hackles raised.

Before he could even process the situation and decide what to do, the dog charged him with an open jowl, sharp teeth claws ready to strike."Oh shit!" he gasped, dodged, and made a split second decision to turn and run into the unknown. He stumbled over an unidentifiable object and fell down face first. He lost his vision momentarily, and the darkness didn't make it any easier to get his bearings back. He picked himself up and tried desperately to run, but the dog jumped on his back, causing him to hit the floor once more. The animal clawed at his back, snarling into James ears. He gasped as his heart rate went into overdrive. _Not good, I need to calm down. _He felt his skin tear and felt a warm liquid trickle down his back. Quickly, he stopped moving, waiting for the horrible simulation to end. Suddenly the weight was gone from his back, leaving a tingling sensation behind. He pushed himself up, preparing for the next simulation. The room started to morph, the dark room melting into a field of flowers, the sun blindingly bright compared to the dark room he had been in only moments before. He looked around to find a weapon or advantage of some sort that he could use if another fight should arise, but was discouraged to find nothing of the sort. He closed his eyes and focused on keeping his breathing even, preparing himself for whatever would be thrown at him next. When he opened his eyes, he saw his mother a few feet away standing in her usual erudite attire. She smiled at her son, her blue eyes glimmering in the sunlight. James sighed with relief, but quickly became crestfallen _...It's not her, it's only a simulation._

Perhaps that was so, but it was still his mother that stood in front of him. She had the same blond hair, blue eyes, and loving smile. So real... yet it was only his imagination. His mother held her arms out, wanting James to come to her. But as he took a small step, she fell to the ground, her body not moving at all, as if her life had been suddenly sucked out of her, leaving only a shell. "MOM!" James screamed as he sprinted to his mother's side. He checked for a pulse, and was devastated to find nothing. She was dead. He jerked away from the body, falling back and hugging his knees, reminding himself that it was only a simulation. Blood bloomed across her abdomen; she'd been shot in the stomach. One bullet. He stood and backed away from his mother, trying desperately to slow his heart rate.

He grasped his head in his hands, wanting to escape the horrors he had just witnessed. Suddenly the meadow vanished, and he was jerked back into the real world. The nurse stood next to him, still holding her clipboard.

"Impressive. You lasted a minute and 28 seconds longer than the last person." she said with little inflection in her voice. "Follow me," she said, and walked out the door.

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I'll be adding more hopefully soon, I've got a lot going on though, so it might take some time. Let me know what you thought!


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